Did Amy Winehouse Die of Alcohol Withdrawal?

Toxicology reports will either confirm her family's theory-- or not. In the meantime, there IS a lesson to be learned here. Just as you can die from alcohol poisoning, you can, if your body is used to a steady level of alcohol, die from acute alcohol withdrawal.If you think you're at risk for seizures, go for a medical detox. Much safer.

Can You Die From Not Drinking?Assessing the latest theory of Amy Winehouse's demise.By Jeremy Singer-VinePosted Thursday, July 28, 2011, at 6:24 PM ETThe Winehouse family believes Amy died from alcohol withdrawal.Amy Winehouse's family believes that quitting alcohol cold turkey precipitated the singer's recent death, according to the British tabloid the Sun. Toxicology reports won't be ready for at least two weeks, but most observers have assumed that she suffered from a drug overdose of some kind.

Can you really die from not drinking?

Yes.

While alcohol withdrawal symptoms are often mild—pronounced sweating, hand tremors, and nausea, for example—more severe cases can critically damage the nervous system. That can lead to seizures, heart attack, and other life-threatening conditions. Symptoms of alcohol withdrawal generally stem from the fact that heavy drinking forces changes in the brain's sensitivity to key neurotransmitters. When someone stops drinking all of a sudden, the rebound effect can be deadly.

The most severe effect of this rebound is known as delirium tremens, meaning "shaking frenzy" in Latin. This develops in about 5 percent of patients hospitalized for alcohol withdrawal and kills about 5 percent of those who develop it. (Timely diagnosis and treatment, however, can reduce the mortality risk to around 1 out of every 2,000 hospitalized patients.) Symptoms of delirium tremens, also known as "the DTs," include floating in and out of consciousness, hallucinations, seizures, nausea, and diarrhea. The condition also impairs the autonomic nervous system, and a history of other drug use increases the risk for alcohol-related seizures.Advertisement

Those newly on the wagon are also at risk of dying from Wernicke's encephalopathy, a form of brain damage caused by caused by thiamine (a.k.a. vitamin B1) deficiency. Alcohol hampers the body's ability to absorb thiamine from food, and over time can lead to the destruction of brain tissue. In the long run, quitting alcohol would reduce the risk of mortality, but the symptoms of encephalopathy—memory loss and impaired control over muscle and eye movement—may be mistaken for the general symptoms of withdrawal. If left untreated, Wernicke's encephalopathy leads to death roughly 20 percent of the time.

UG plus: remove bannerMeanwhile, the debate is open as to whether there will be a posthumous release of her incomplete third album. While the NME report that the album may see the light of day, the decision to release new music will ultimately be up to her parents.

I heard she HAD been in rehab as recently as a month ago.Only time and the toxicology report will tell what killed her.Given her emphysema, maybe she suffered a fatal asthma attack or even a heart attack. It could be anything!RIP Amy.

Very true, Lady_E. There are a number of pharmaceuticals that are dangerous to quit taking cold turkey.Detoxing's a bear, but can be fatal if you go into seizures. And they really do happen.CyclingFitness, that's certainly possible (probable, even). Is the report from a reliable news source or more tabloid-esque?What kind of Class A drugs, did they specify?She could have OD'd accidentally. She could have killed herself. Or her heart could have burst. I guess we won't know the COD for real until the toxicology report....

Related Discussions

For all the people who prematurely believed that Winehouse died from alcohol withdrawal, apparently the coroner's inquest proved otherwise. It's pretty sad that a woman with the entire world in her grasp, couldn't stop drinking.And remember, don't always believe what you hope to be true,...

Why do so many people care that Amy Winehouse died?She was not a genius. She was a musician who had 2 albums and 11 singles. She was a drug addict, just like millions of other drug addicts in this world. Why do you care that she died? Did you know her, were you her friend?

I love this woman! Her music reminds me of great late 60's to early 70's R&B. It's whisky drenched, floor rattling post-modern Motown. I'd listen to this lady any day over the other vanilla, over-produced "talents" out there, like Britney Spears, K.T. Tunstall,...

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